Method of polishing shoes



Aug. 9, 1927.

F. KINGSLEY METHOD OF POLISHING SHOES Filed April 19, 1922 INVENTOR I ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 9, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

FRANCIS KINGSLEY, or PELHAM lVLANOR, new YORK.

METHOD OF POLISHING SHOES.

Application filed April 19, 1922. Serial No; 555,560.

as in other trades and the speeding up of the operation by the use of power driven brushes. It has been found in practice that the introduction of a. high speed power driven brush .changes the conditions by its physical action in such respects as to give rise to the problem of securing eventually a smooth finish on the surface of the shoe. The complete shining operation with a power driven brush is essentially one involving speed and is so represented to the public. The high speed brush with its stiff bristlescreates considerable heat in the polish to which it is applied with the result that the volatile constituents are dried out very quickly and the waxy residue hardened very rapidly and unevenly, the

impress of the bristles therein leaving the surface very rough. This roughened surface by reason of its irregularity lacks brilliance since the reflected rays of light are broken up. This condition is not bettered appreciably by the use of the usual soft polishing cloth since the hardened wax constituents of the polish maintain their set when such a cloth is passed over them. To provide a shine which has a luster equal to a hand shine (given, of course at the expense of much greater time,) and one which is satisfactory to the discriminating public, becomes then, the critical problem where a hi h speed power driven brush is employed. The present invention, has for its principal object to provide a method of polishing shoes with a power driven brush which shall insure a polish of equal brilliance with that .secured by the tedious hand brushing and without the loss of an appreciable amount of time. In accordance with the method it is pro posed to remove the unsatisfactory rough finish created by the power driven brush by means of a step which involves the use of a cloth whose fibres are of such size and so woven and of such texture as to constitute a sort of file which when drawn over the irregular hardened surface left by the brush will remove the tiny irregularities thereon and give to the surface of the shoe a smooth regular finish of brilliance. The action of the cloth thus employed may be accelerated when the method is practised in its most effective form. The fibres of the cloth are prepared by painting them witha solution of wax which hardens and binds the fibres together and its lf'has a filing action on the smooth similar or waxy composition over which it is drawn. This follows from the fact that similar substances when passed over one another ive the most effective. abrasive action. The final step of the improved method consists in passing a soft cloth over the surface in order to remove the waX dust and smooth out the fine scratches which the hard rough cloth tends to produce on the surface of the war; film.

F or abetter understanding of the invention there has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in a very diagrammatic and highly exaggerated form a portion of a suitable rough hard cloth and the surface of a shoe after being brushed and before the cloth is applied thereto.

In the drawings: v

Figure 1 illustrates 1n exaggerated form the surface of an abrading cloth which has been painted with waX.

Figure 2 illustrates in cross sectional form a. shoe to the surface of which has been applied a polish which has been dried out quickly by a high speed power driven brush.

Figure 8 shows fragment of suitable cloth showing the relation of the fibres thereof. v

In polishing shoes with a power driven brush it is proposed to evaporate very quickly the volatile constitutents of the polish after it has been applied to the surface of the shoe, the saving of time in this step over the hand method being one of the important advantages in such a shining operation. The very factor which makes for speed, however, to wit, the great heat generated in the polish, makes for certain disadvantages in that the volatile constituents are driven off so quickly that the waxy residue is left in a hardened and very irregular condition on the surface of the shoe. The waxy particles are not worked down during the progress of the brushing operation to a uniform surface as is the ease in a hand operation. The character of the surface left after the use of a lit) power driven brush is indicated'on a greatly enlarged scale at a in Figure 2. The tiny irregularities break up the reflected rays of light so that the surface has no brilliance. The problem is to file down these irregularities as quickly as possible by some means which will leave a generally brilliant-surrtace ready for the final polishing cloth. In the improved method of shining it is proposed to employ for this purpose a loosely woven cloth having hard rough fibres which in the preferred form are in such relation as to most efi'ectivelydo the filing required and exert a greater abrading action than the brush. As indicated in Figure 2, for instance, a suitable cloth will include coarse fibres .7) which extend transversely thereof and smaller fibres 0 which extend longitudinally thereof, these fibres being of very hard texture loosely woven- To accelerate their filing action when the cloth is drawn across the waxy film on the shoe the surface or the cloth is painted with a w xyecmpound indicated atd in Figure 1 which not only hint s the fibres of the cloth together as it dries out but also hardens the filing surface. In this connection, advantage is taken of the fact that, similar materials when rubbed across one another have the most effective abrading action.

? roved method consists 'enerall in aaal e i l ing polish to the shoes by any suitable means; brushing the polish with a high speed power driven brush which Will quickly evaporate tllGVOltttllfi constituents; filing ofi" the hard rough surface leftb the brush in its qiuckaction, with a hard loosely woven cloth which will give a greater abrading action to file oiithe irregularities; and finally finishing off with a soft cloth for the purposeoi' wiping oil the wax dust and smoothing out any little scratches produced on the surface of the wax film by the hard rough cloth. 4 I What I claim is: 1 l. The herein described method of rapidly polishing-shoes which consists in applying polish to a shoe, brushing it with ahigh speed power driven brush, rubbing the surface with a hard loosely woven cloth having greate'r abr'ading action than said brush, and then removing the powder resulting from the abrading action of said cloth with a smooth soft cloth. I a V o The herein described method of rapidly polishing shoes which consists in applying polish to a shoe, brushing it with a high speed powerdriven brush until theivolatile constituents are evaporated, then filing as the hardeneo waxy irregularities left on the surface with a loosely woven cloth'having 'hard fibres coated with a waxy compound and a, greater abrading action than said brush, and removing the waxy filings with a smooth soft cloth. V i. 1

This specification signed this 18th day of April A. D. 1922. i i

FRANCIS KINGSLEY. 

